The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Yusuf Ghalia arrived in 2025 as part of the EO Resin collection, and the brief seems to have been about color: the most vibrant, orange-hued oud Ensar Oud has released. The official description leads with a radiant burst of mandarin and blood orange before transforming into peachy-apricot and honeydew nuances drawn from Oud Yusuf, one of the house's signature distillations. The name itself anchors the composition in a tradition of naming that values resonance and intention. This is a composition that treats oud less as a solo instrument and more as the wood a garden grows out of. Two oud distillations, Assam and Cambodian, form a layered backbone, while Oud Yusuf provides the fruited, almost edible undertone that gives the whole composition its sense of warmth.
The structure here is unusual for the genre. Two oud infusions sit alongside two musk infusions and two rose extracts, with oud concentration exceeding 50 percent of the formula. That ratio puts it firmly in extrait territory, but the floral architecture, frangipani, tuberose, jasmine, May rose, gives the composition a buoyancy that most heavy oud releases sacrifice. Immortelle adds its characteristic warmth, while narcissus and jonquil contribute a green sharpness that keeps the sweetness from collapsing. It's dense without being flat.
The evolution
The opening belongs to the blood orange and mandarin, bright and almost candied, sitting on top of a waxy oud that reads more like warm beeswax than smoke. There's an immediate, almost industrial sharpness early, a quality that recalls freshly worked wood. As the composition settles, the florals emerge: frangipani and tuberose turn creamy, and the rose (both Japanese red and May) adds a dried-petal dryness that prevents the heart from going syrupy. The Cambodian oud deepens as the hours pass, joined by Mysore sandalwood for a soft, woody spine. The musks, Tibetan and Tonkin, don't announce themselves; they just make everything warmer. Eventually, what remains is a close-to-skin warmth, the apricot trail the house described, now reading as skin rather than fruit. The transition from citrus to floral to wood happens in distinct waves, each phase retaining some memory of the one before.
Cultural impact
Yusuf Ghalia is a composition that bridges worlds, wearable and approachable while still carrying the depth and complexity that oud aficionados look for. Wearers describe it as warm, floral, and richly textured, a scent that reveals more of itself with each passing hour. The 50 percent oud concentration places it among the more substantial oud-forward releases, yet the blood-orange opening and the floral heart soften the impact, making the fragrance feel inviting rather than impenetrable.
